


Like a Jewel in the Heavens

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [37]
Category: HERO Champions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:00:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: (October 2001) What is the strange secret that ties a barely-foiled nuclear attack on Millenium City during 9/11, the kidnapping of Lady Blue, the escape of Kat el-Hassan from UNTIL's supermax facility, and the former Soviet research city of Larisagrad all together?  It's up to Ladyhawk and Starforce to untangle that secret from the webs of deception spun by both ARGENT and Sergei Varinnikov.





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : Nuclear explosions, insane megascale engineering, self-defenestration, futureshadowing
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **heroes**
> 
>   * MGEN Ted Jameson (AKA Ranger), Director of PRIMUS, disgustingly-powerful speedster
>   * Julie Dormyer Hawkins (AKA Ladyhawk), Chairman of the Board of Directors for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful ninja with latent powers of temporal visualization
>   * Dr. Bob Hawkins (AKA Starforce), Senior Research Scientist for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
> 

> 
> **villains**
> 
>   * Dr. Tara Lemick (AKA Lady Blue), power-armor wearer and social justice warrior
>   * Pavel Zavarev (AKA Molnya), Chief of Intelligence for the Republic of Central Asia, mutant electricity controller
>   * Katharine el-Hassan, Director of ARGENT, power-armor wearer
>   * Shturm, leader of the Larisagrad Division, power-armor wearer and teleporter
>   * Sergei Varinnikov (AKA Warlord), President-for-life of the Republic of Central Asia, disgustingly-powerful power-armor wearer
> 

> 
> **others**
> 
>   * Alexei Sokolov, deep-cover Central Asian agent infiltrating ARGENT in Larisagrad
>   * Mackenzie Doyle, political exile
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Internal monologue is denoted by [[ ]], telepathy by (( ))
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 2** : In case you haven't figured it out, the bulk of this story takes place roughly one month after 9/11.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 3** : ARGENT is the Champions/TASK FORCE universe's equivalent of Marvel Comics' AIM.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 4** : If you're playing along at home with Google Maps, Larisagrad is roughly between the Real Life towns of Zlatoust and Miass, 30 miles west of Chelyabinsk.

**PROLOGUE** : Over the Hudson River. Nighttime, sometime in March 2001 (roughly during "What's Yours is Negotiable")

(Tara 'Lady Blue' Lemick in full kit is eastbound over the Hudson River, proximate to Newark's Central Business District)

 **Lady Blue** (internal monologue): [[you know, I usually know *where* the proceeds are going before the heist]]

(she continues to scroll through web search entries in her mask as she goes feet dry over Manhattan's West Side)

 **Lady Blue** (internal monologue): [[still, couldn't resist a target that big to hit. That money wasn't going to do any good in the hedge funds to which it was destined]] (beat, looking at the web search results) [[how about that homeless shelter in Newark?]]

(alarms go off in her mask as she approaches Central Park)

 **Lady Blue** : "Aw crap. What now?"

(just as she registers that it was her 'Detect Energy' that went off, a beam of light springs up from the ground and transfixes her)

 **Lady Blue** (alarmed): "An electrogravitic JAMMER?!? Didn't think you could *do* that!"

(a second beam of light springs up from the ground near to the first and transfixes her)

 **Lady Blue** : "Telekinesis? SERIOUSLY?!?"

(struggling futilely against both beams, she is inexorably pulled toward the ground and one of Central Park's more forested sections)

 **Lady Blue** (internal monologue): [[well, I suppose I better see what they want. Since, you know, they went to all this effort to grab me...]]

(as she descends beneath the treeline, she sees who is responsible for interrupting her flight back to Brooklyn)

 **Lady Blue** : "ARGENT?"

 **Agent** : "Come with us willingly, Dr. Lemick, and you will suffer no harm."

(tense pause, held gaze between Lady Blue and the ARGENT squad)

 **Lady Blue** (shutting her forcefield off): "Okay."

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II, Lakewood Village, TX. Late night, sometime in October 2001)

(A PRIMUS VTOL lifts from the helipad just to the south of the manor. Ted 'Ranger' Jameson, Julie 'Ladyhawk' Hawkins, and Bob 'Starforce' Hawkins are in the cabin as the VTOL clears the trees along Stowe Lane and turns for DFW Airport to the southwest. Bob and Julie are in full superheroic kit)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ted, I still don't understand all the cloak and dagger behind this!"

 **Starforce** : "I also don't understand why we had to break *both* our armors out of the display case in the library."

 **Ranger** : "All will be explained when we get to the hangar at DFW. Not until then."

(beat)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Well, then. I imagine the past month has been pretty frantic..."

 **Ranger** : "You have NO idea. When agents aren't chasing down dead-end leads, I'm attempting to co-ordinate PRIMUS' reorganization under that new Homeland Security department that's being stood up." (beat, sweeps a hand toward one of the windows showing the lights of the DFW-area's northern suburbs streaming by beneath them) "This is practically a vacation compared to all that."

 **Starforce** : "Things were a lot simpler when we were just another middle-of-the-road superhero team ten years ago, huh?"

 **Ranger** (sighs): "Yeah." (beat, hesitant) "You were able to go to Jack's funeral, weren't you?" /* Jack 'Minuteman' Snyder, founding member of TASK FORCE */

 **Starforce** (looking at Ladyhawk): "We both went."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Ted): "Is it true that he was attempting to rescue Franklin Stone when the North Tower collapsed?"

 **Ranger** (nodding sadly): "Yeah."

 **Starforce** : "After all the things we faced, to go like that..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Did you know he had a son? We didn't until the funeral."

 **Ranger** : "No! Oh, my God..."

(stunned pause)

 **Ranger** : "He's going to be taken care of?"

 **Starforce** : "Julie and I covered that with his mother before we left Dalhart."

 **Ladyhawk** : "A blind trust to provide for Cody and Darla starting immediately, and to provide for any collegiate education either of them might desire." (beat) "They're thinking about moving down to the DFW area just to get closer to better jobs and schooling than what's available up in the Panhandle."

 **Ranger** : "Good. Jack would have wanted us to take care of them if something happened to him."

(the conversation sputters to an awkward halt)

 **Ladyhawk** : "How much longer?"

 **Starforce** (interrupting Ranger): "Five minutes if we can hold this speed."

 **Ranger** (beat): "Showoff."

* * *

(PRIMUS Hangar, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. 5 minutes later)

(the PRIMUS VTOL has taxied into the PRIMUS hangar. A futuristic aircraft similar to the ProStar PowerJet but in Republic of Central Asia livery already occupies some of it. A bald man with a goatee and lit cigarette stands in front of the PowerJet clone as Ted, Ladyhawk, and Starforce exit the VTOL)

 **Ranger** (indicating the balding man): "Bob, Julie? Pavel Zavarev, Chief of Intelligence for the Republic of Central Asia."

 **Molnya** (nodding toward Starforce and Ladyhawk): "Dr. Hawkins, Mrs. Hawkins? It is an honor."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Ted): "Well, I can see why you wanted to keep this meeting quiet, now..."

 **Starforce** (focusing on the futuristic aircraft): "In more ways than one." (beat, to Molnya) "You copied the PowerJet that was forced to land at Tashkent last August, didn't you?" /* "Tethys Rising" */

 **Molnya** : "Is it my fault that your nation refuses to use its technology base to its fullest extent?"

 **Ranger** : "Guys? FOCUS!"

(awkward pause)

 **Ranger** : "Thank you. Mr. Zavarev is here to brief you on a matter of mutual concern for both our nations."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Why us?"

 **Starforce** : "Aren't there professionals to do cloak-and-dagger stuff for either our government or his?"

 **Ranger** : "All will become obvious in time. Let the man speak."

 **Starforce** (muttered): "I could have been watching _Firefly_..."

 **Molnya** (to Ted): "Thank you." (to Starforce and Ladyhawk) "Several months after your last... misadventures in our nation, a mercenary group hit an old Soviet air base close to our border with Russia. Said base contained 13 tactical nuclear weapons which had somehow escaped former Soviet Defense Ministry accounting when the base was turned over to Kazakhstani control ten years ago."

 **Starforce** : "Oh, bloody hell."

 **Ranger** : "Yeah."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Do we have any idea where the weapons are heading."

 **Molnya** : "We believe most of them are now in the former Soviet research city of Larisagrad in the Southern Urals."

 **Starforce** : "Larisagrad... now why does that name sound familiar?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I've heard it used once before, too."

 **Ranger** : "The closest analogs to Larisagrad in America would be a combination of Los Alamos and Haynesville."

 **Starforce** : "High energy weaponry *and* mad genetics. Oh, joy."

 **Ranger** : "It gets better. Larisagrad has been the target of an extended takeover effort by the criminal organization ARGENT since the collapse of the Soviet Union."

 **Ladyhawk** : "How much control do they have of its operations?"

 **Molnya** : "ARGENT has had effective control of the city for three years now."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "Okay then. Leaving aside the disturbing implications of ARGENT possessing nuclear weapons, I still don't get why the United States has to solve Russia and Central Asia's sloppy bookkeeping with regards to its nukes..."

 **Ranger** (interrupting): "One of those nukes was recovered in Dearborn, MI the afternoon of 9/11."

 **Ladyhawk** (gasping): "Oh my God!"

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Ranger** : "If it hadn't been for quick work by the Champions, UNTIL, and PRIMUS, the Central Business District of Millenium City would would have joined the Pentagon and the World Trade Center that day."

 **Starforce** (beat): "Okay, then. I can understand our interest in the nukes."

 **Ladyhawk** : "That still doesn't explain why WE'RE here!"

 **Molnya** : "Two words. Tara Lemick."

(another shocked paused, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "WHAT?!?"

 **Ranger** : "Lady Blue hasn't been seen in America since a robbery in Newark back in March."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Is she working with ARGENT?"

 **Molnya** : "According to my sources, yes." (beat, takes a drag off his cigarette) "How willingly she is working with them is unknown."

 **Starforce** : "What is she doing for them?"

 **Molnya** : "She appears to be associated with something called 'ARGENT Escape.' Even my contacts and sources cannot find out any more details."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Which may be something we need to know to rescue her. Mr. Zavarev, do you have *anything* concerning recent developments in Larisagrad?"

 **Molnya** : "We have a briefing package for you and your husband on Larisagrad for you to peruse during your flight to Central Asia."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Molnya): "That's a start. Thank you." (beat) "So, to summarize what you want Bob and I to do, you expect us to do something about the errant nukes *and* save Lady Blue?"

 **Starforce** : "Better add to that neutralizing anything ARGENT has developed from enslaving Tara for half a year, too."

 **Molnya** : "I couldn't have stated your orders better myself, Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins."

(tense pause, held gaze between everyone)

 **Starforce** : "Okay, then. Anything else we shouldn't know before we head for Central Asia?"

 **Molnya** : "Yes. Last week, Katharine el-Hassan escaped from UNTIL's Guardhouse facility."

(shocked pause. Both Ted and Ladyhawk register the sudden grim expression on Starforce's face)

 **Ranger** : "Any idea where she is now?"

 **Molnya** : "We believe that she is now at Larisagrad."

 **Starforce** (abruptly): "Take me alone. I'll be *quite* happy to kill her."

 **Ladyhawk** (angry, hitting Starforce): "Robert Alan Hawkins, that is NOT what we're being asked to do!!"

 **Ranger** (to Starforce, angry): "Stand down, soldier!"

 **Starforce** (to Ted, equally angry): "Easy for you to say when you weren't handcuffed to a bed and RAPED by her..." /* "The Jewel of Awad" */

 **Ladyhawk** (screaming): "ENOUGH!!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing): "We're getting *nowhere* rehashing events from six years ago, people!"

 **Molnya** (smoothly): "Thank you, Mrs. Hawkins."

 **Ranger** (to Starforce and Ladyhawk): "Will you need anything before you go?"

(Starforce shakes his head)

 **Ladyhawk** (brow furrowed, fumbling around in her utility belt): "Yes..." (appears to find what she was looking for) "...wait, no. I'm good."

 **Starforce** : "Afraid you were short on marbles, Ninjette? It's been a while..."

 **Ladyhawk** (hitting Starforce softly): "Nerd-boy..."

 **Molnya** : "Excellent. Wheels-up in thirty."

 **Ranger** (to Starforce and Ladyhawk): "Good luck, guys. Complete report on the mission when you're back."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Of course."

* * *

(Tupolev TU-184 HyperJet. At speed eastbound somewhere over the Mediterrenean Sea)

(Ladyhawk uncurls from her briefing folders, stretches, and sits down by Starforce in the cabin)

 **Ladyhawk** (sultry): "Need a break, Nerd-boy?"

 **Starforce** (smiling while putting his folder down): "For you, Ninjette? Always."

(long kiss)

 **Ladyhawk** : "What have you learned?"

 **Starforce** : "That I'm about to get cross-eyed trying to wrap my head around all this data."

 **Ladyhawk** (chuckling): "Other than that. Start with the basics."

 **Starforce** : "Okay then. Larisagrad is located between parallel ridges of the Ural Mountains roughly 30 miles west of Chelyabinsk. Post-World War 2, its inhabitants worked on the various super-soldier programs and related research organized under the old Soviet Directorate Black-12. During the Cold War, even *attempting* to enter Larisagrad without proper authorization was a capital offense."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What about after the Cold War?"

 **Starforce** : "The inhabitants didn't handle it well at all. Deprived of government funding and too used to their standard of living, they sold their skills to the highest bidder and weren't too particular about it."

 **Ladyhawk** (looking at the particular sheet Starforce is holding): "VIPER, the Ultimates... Central Asia?"

 **Starforce** : "In crazier times, when Sergei was rolling through the 'stans and getting Central Asia onto its feet as an independent nation. That customer list is just the tip of the iceberg, if rumors are true."

 **Ladyhawk** : "So how did ARGENT get involved?"

 **Starforce** : "Some initial contacts were made during the breakup of the Soviet Union, but nothing more than that until Larisagrad began to establish a reputation for the quality of their work. Between that and us destroying their operation in Awad back in '95, ARGENT decided that they would rather go all in and acquire Larisagrad for themselves."

 **Ladyhawk** : "So Larisagrad as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ARGENT is partly our fault?"

 **Starforce** (coldly): "Kat el-Hassan's fault, for getting us involved with Awad in the first place."

(awkward pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Moving on. Anything notable about the terrain or the area of Russia it's in?"

 **Starforce** : "Well, for starters the plume from the [Kyshtym Disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster) helps guard the valley to the north."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Wait. Kyshtym Disaster?"

 **Starforce** : "Nuclear containment failure at a plutonium processing plant 30 miles north of Larisagrad back in the 1950's, the data from which just got declassified a few years ago. Only Chernyobl was bigger." /* remember that [Fukushima](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster) is still 10 years in the future as of this story... */

 **Ladyhawk** (shocked): "We won't be in any danger, will we?"

 **Starforce** : "Not unless we blunder into the dead zone." (beat, shakes his head) "I'll say this for Ivan. When he screwed up, he never did it by halves."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I'm better off for not knowing that ever happened." (beat) "Okay, you've unpacked enough for now. Wanna know what I've been studying?"

 **Starforce** : "Sure."

(she retrieves some of her briefing materials and shows them to Starforce. Most prominent among them are several pictures of what appear to be a massive, block-like building supported on top of a dome by struts and surrounded by what appear to be six skyscrapers)

 **Starforce** (looking at the photos): "The architect sure didn't have a sense of style here..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "This construction project occupies most of an older industrial complex on Larisagrad's north side and was started approximately when ARGENT took effective control of Larisagrad in 1998."

 **Starforce** : "What is it?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "The Russians won't say, and the Central Asians are going batshit insane attempting to guess what it is. The only thing we do know about it is that it is called 'Serebryanyy Arcology'."

 **Starforce** : "Oh! An arcology!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Unpack, Nerd-boy. Is this something you're familiar with?"

 **Starforce** : "It's a concept I've only read about in science fiction stories. It's basically an entire city contained within a single building. It generates its own power, grows its own food, its citizens never need to outside the building for anything..." (beat) "Do you have any data on its size?"

 **Ladyhawk** (handing him another sheet of paper): "Here."

 **Starforce** : "Thanks." (beat, skims sheet) "640 meters high, 500 meters wide at base, estimated mass 450,000 TONS?"

 **Ladyhawk** (deadpan): "Those figures got my attention, too."

 **Starforce** : "No shit, Sherlock!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "You mentioning some aspects of an arcology actually explains some of the extreme amount of non-technical purchases Central Asian intelligence dredged up and all tied to that building somehow."

 **Starforce** : "Like..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Lots of agricultural items, hydroponics, raw materials, medicine..." (beat) "Could this be some sort of shelter to ride out a war?"

 **Starforce** : "They'd be better off putting it in or under one of the surrounding mountains if they were doing that. Not out in the open like this."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Well, once we get there we'll find out."

 **Starforce** : "Speaking of which, what type of defenses can we expect once we're there?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Lots of ISO-standard ARGENT agents with standard load-outs, nothing we haven't been able to deal with before. The superhuman defenses, however..."

 **Starforce** : "What are those like?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "ARGENT Larisagrad maintains an elite platoon of powered-armor soldiers led by a teleporter named Shturm. They worry me. Especially since ARGENT's had Lady Blue for six months now."

 **Starforce** : "Any ideas on how to get around or through them?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "None beyond you keeping your suit turned off unless we absolutely need it. They can't fight what they can't detect."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "This mission keeps getting better and better."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I hear that, Nerd-boy."

* * *

(Kostanay AB, Republic of Central Asia. 30 minutes later)

(The TU-184 has taxied up to a stairway under the harsh glare of floodlights. A van, panel truck, and some agents wait impassively as the ground crew drives the stairway up to the Hyperjet)

(When the hatch of the HyperJet is finally opened, Molnya steps out first, followed by Starforce, then by Ladyhawk)

 **Starforce** (apparently continuing a conversation that had started inside the cabin): "...about 600 miles north-northwest of Tashkent

 **Ladyhawk** : "How far are we from Larisagrad?"

 **Starforce** (pointing to the west-northwest): "About 200 miles thataway."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I just hope they've got some plan to get us past the defenses around Larisagrad."

 **Starforce** (descending the stairs): "At least one more sophisticated than me keeping my suit off until absolutely..."

(segment 1. The agent at the bottom of the stairs has a held action, and has just achieved surprise out of combat on Starforce as he steps onto the tarmac. Starforce gets a lungful of neurokinetic aerosol and is knocked out before the melee ever begins)

(also segment 1. Ladyhawk's Danger Sense screams enough warning for her to abort to an Artful Dodge. The parkour sequence avoids the agent assigned to knock her out, and she tumbles bewteen two more agents while also activating her "Really Deep Breath" power)

(segment 3, effective DEX 35. Ladyhawk disposes of the two agents she just tumbled between by grabbing one's head between her legs and doing an over-the-back martial throw with him into the other, knocking both of them out)

(effective DEX 28. Molnya stretches a hand up to the sky)

 **Molnya** : "ENOUGH!!"

(ball lightning shoots from Molnya's upraised hand straight up to the air. Its detonation stops the melee in place, Ladyhawk now surrounded by ARGENT and Central Asian agents, katanas now in her hands)

(tense pause. Ladyhawk looks from side to side, not breathing)

 **Molnya** : "Come now Mrs. Hawkins. Let's be reasonable here."

(Ladyhawk glares at him, still not breathing)

 **Molnya** : "The oxygen storage and transport provided by your Varanyi medical nanotech is good for, what, five minutes even with strenuous exertion?"

(Ladyhawk moves a katana toward him, still glaring, still not breathing)

 **Molnya** : "And after that's expended, you're left with whatever air you were able to get into your lungs before we attempted to incapacitate you. That's good for another two to three minutes, if I remember my human biology correctly. Less if you're fighting."

(Ladyhawk looks really angry. ARGENT agents have by now finished inserting Starforce's arms into power nullifier cuffs)

 **Molnya** : "So, I can either wait eight minutes for you to pass out from anoxia, or you can surrender to me right now and spare yourself the effort and agony." (beat) "Either way, Mrs. Hawkins, you and your husband are leaving with ARGENT."

(tense pause, then with a shuddering exhale Ladyhawk sheaths her katanas and extends her hands for cuffing)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Why?"

 **Molnya** : "Like the citizens of Larisagrad, I too am used to a certain standard of living." (beat, observing Ladyhawk being restrained) "One I am more likely to sustain in the employ of ARGENT than running President Varinnikov's intelligence operations in some godforsaken backwater in the middle of nowhere."

(The lights of a VTOL rapidly approaches from the northwest. As it gets close to the floodlights, Ladyhawk can see it bears ARGENT markings.)

 **Agent** (to Molnya): "We'll take them from here. Director el-Hassan will be most impressed that you were able to get them so quickly."

 **Molnya** : "And my payment?"

(the agent reaches into a pocket, pulls what appears to be a credit card out, and hands it to Molnya)

 **Agent** : "As discussed."

 **Molnya** : "Excellent. Carry on."

(he watches impassively as Starforce is carried off and Ladyhawk is led away to the landing VTOL)

* * *

(ARGENT VTOL, on final approach to Serebryanyy Arcology, Larisagrad, Russia. Ninety minutes later)

(the VTOL is over Larisagrad and maneuvering toward a massive, floodlit structure strongly resembling what had been in Ladyhawk and Starforce's briefing packets)

 **Starforce** (now awake): "You can't really appreciate the scale of that thing until you're approaching it..."

(Ladyhawk has been looking out of the VTOL toward the ground)

 **Ladyhawk** : "It looks like a madhouse down there. Every vehicle is heading *out* of the city."

 **Starforce** : "Every aircraft I've seen, too." (beat) "Well, except for us."

(giant doors open in the side of the main structure, and the VTOL plunges into what appears to be a massive hangar bay. After a moment, the VTOL touches down but the engines stay at power)

 **Agent 1** (prodding Ladyhawk with a pulson rifle): "Out, both of you. The aircraft needs to leave now."

(Starforce and Ladyhawk are prodded and escorted off the VTOL, which immediately lifts and exits the hangar as soon as they are off. The hangar itself is full of advanced grav-vehicles of all types)

 **Starforce** : "All the vehicles left in here are electrogravitically-powered and have closed cabins."

 **Agent 2** (hitting Starforce with the butt of his pulson rifle): "Shut up. This way."

(Ladyhawk and Starforce are escorted into the only open-air vehicle in the hangar, which appears to be a grav-sled of some sort. They are made to sit down, and the grav-sled takes off deeper into the arcology)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Where are we being taken?"

 **Starforce** : "The cafeteria would be nice. I haven't had anything to eat in hours..."

(this earns another pulson rifle butt into his side)

 **Starforce** (to Agent 2): "Don't you ever get tired of doing that?"

(Agent 1 stops Agent 2 from taking more forceful action, and shakes his head)

 **Ladyhawk** (murmured): "So much for baiting them."

(Minutes later, the grav-sled arrives in what can only be considered to be a brig. Ladyhawk and Starforce are escorted roughly off the sled and each to separate cells)

 **Starforce** : "HEY! What do you think you're..."

(the door slams shut behind Starforce as he is thrown into his cell)

 **Ladyhawk** : "STARFORCE!"

(she feels the muzzle of Agent 1's pulson blaster in the small of her back)

 **Agent 1** : "Don't make me hurt you."

(she glares furiously at Agent 1 for a moment, then steps into her cell voluntarily)

 **Agent 1** : "Thank you."

(Agent 1 closes the door. Beat, then Ladyhawk starts to prowl her cell looking at all its details)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[first order of business. Find something to get these cuffs off of...]]

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

* * *

(Quantum Displacement Laboratory, Larisagrad. One second later)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(Ladyhawk flashes into existence in a disheveled laboratory that looks like it's been partially torn apart. A young, dark-haired Russian is frantically working behind the closest active console in the lab)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Wha... Where am I?"

 **Man** (still looking at console and manipulating controls): "Busy now. ARGENT *would* have to separate you and your husband..." (smiles) "Popalsya!!" /* Got you */

(Ladyhawk hastily exits the teleporter pad. She knows what is going to happen next)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

 **Starforce** (throwing up): "HWAAUUGH!!" (hachkt!) "Damn it!!"

 **Ladyhawk** (deadpan, to the Russian man): "He'll clean that up."

(the man picks up a piece of equipment off of a nearby workbench which strongly resembles Ladyhawk's electronic lockpick and gets to work on Ladyhawk's cuffs. Beat, and Ladyhawk is freed)

 **Ladyhawk** (taking her electronic lockpick out of her utility belt): "Thank you. I'll take care of my husband."

(quick work by her, and now Starforce is free. They both look at their erstwhile savior)

 **Man** : "My apologies, Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins. I am Alexei Sokolov, chief engineer for what used to be Larisagrad's Quantum Displacement Laboratory and most recently on the payroll of Central Asia's Intelligence Service."

 **Ladyhawk** (angry): "You *are* aware that your boss betrayed us to ARGENT less than TWO HOURS AGO?!?"

 **Alexei** (walking over to a workstation off to one side): "About that, he and I ask that you watch the following video."

 **Starforce** (growling): "This had better be good."

(Alexei brings up a video window and starts it)

 **Molnya** (from workstation): "Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins. If you are watching this video, it means Agent Sokolov has successfully retrieved you from ARGENT's grasp. I apologize for what I had to do at Kostanay, but there was no other way to get you both into Larisagrad unopposed and without suspicion."

 **Starforce** (breathed): "Sonofa..."

 **Molnya** (from workstation): "Rest assured, despite what I may have said when I handed you over to ARGENT my loyalties lie with President Varinnikov and his attempt to create a real superpower from the ashes of Mother Russia. Being able to play parts well is a survival trait in my line of business. I meant nothing personal by what may have happened to bring you here."

 **Ladyhawk** (murmured): "He played both us *and* ARGENT!"

 **Molnya** (from workstation): "Now go perform the mission we've requested, and the mission to rescue you friend Dr. Lemick. Good luck."

(the video ends. Beat, then Alexei closes the window)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce): "Well, I suppose that answers your question concerning how we get past Shturm and the Larisagrad Division!"

 **Starforce** : "That's not what's worrying me anymore." (to Alexei, dangerously) "What *is* is that ARGENT has teleportation!"

 **Alexei** : "You originally built a quantum displacement teleporter for ARGENT, did you not?"

 **Starforce** : "Destroyed it, too. Six *years* ago!"

 **Alexei** : "Fortunately for ARGENT -- and unfortunately for the rest of the world -- the Awadi labs in 1995 were backing up most electronic information and visual logs concerning your work every six hours to a mirror server here in Larisagrad."

 **Starforce** (facepalm, disgusted): "Oh, good God..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "WHY couldn't you have used it to retrieve us directly from Kostanay instead of your boss going through multiple levels of betrayal to get us here?"

 **Alexei** : "The unit in this lab has a range of only 10 kilometers. The planetary-ranged units are in the arcology, powered down, and beyond my access."

 **Ladyhawk** : "How long has ARGENT *had* working teleportation?"

 **Starforce** (muttered): "Again."

 **Alexei** : "Only a month. Even with the data that was saved from Awad, a lot of what your husband did while imprisoned there defied logical analysis for years." (beat) "Almost like Dr. Lemick in the arcology, now that I think about it."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You know where she is?"

 **Alexei** : "Only that she has been in the arcology non-stop for over a month. Where she is precisely I do not know. Yet."

 **Starforce** : "From the way you've been phrasing sentences, I'm gathering that we're *not* in the arcology right now?"

 **Alexei** : "Correct. We're located half a kilometer southeast of the arcology grounds."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Are we likely to be discovered here?"

 **Alexei** : "The security blocks are checked on a three-hour schedule. Whatever you're planning on doing is probably best done within that window before anyone knows you're not incarcerated." (beat while something with sirens blaring goes by somewhere outside and fades) "This building was evacuated yesterday. Things are crazy outside right now, with everyone not specifically identified with a project called "ARGENT Escape" being forcibly evacuated from the city."

 **Starforce** : "Anything else we shouldn't know?"

 **Alexei** : "The main computer center is scheduled for a shutdown in three hours, as are all city-wide utilities. No explanation has been given, nor has any estimated uptime after shutdown."

 **Ladyhawk** (to herself): "The city is being evacuated, and everything sounds like it's being permanently shut down." (beat, to Starforce) "This doesn't sound good at all, Nerd-boy."

 **Starforce** : "How do we want to play this, Ninjette?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Can our radios be traced?"

 **Starforce** : "That we're transmitting, yes. What we're saying, no."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Alexei): "Are you any good with computers?"

 **Alexei** (looking vaguely insulted): "Me? Da!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, then, here's the plan. Nerd-boy, you stay here with Alexei and try to find exactly where Tara's located and where the bombs are stashed. Anything else you can find out about the arcology or this 'ARGENT Escape' project is bonus effect. Maintain radio silence until you locate her."

 **Starforce** : "What are you gonna do, as if I didn't already know."

 **Ladyhawk** (smiling): "To ask the question of me is to answer it." (to Alexei) "Do you have some sort of quick-recall device that can teleport me and Tara out when I get to her?"

 **Alexei** : "Yes!"

(he runs to a nearby work bench, locates what appears to be a watch on it, and tosses it to Ladyhawk)

 **Alexei** : "It's a homing beacon. Press the button, the teleporter will automatically retrieve you and anyone you might be holding."

 **Ladyhawk** (catching the bracelet): "Thanks. Now what's the approximate layout of the arcology?"

 **Alexei** (walking over to a workstation): "Give me a moment."

(Ladyhawk and Starforce crowd around Alexei as he brings up a rough layout of the arcology on the workstation)

 **Alexei** (narrating rapidly as he points at various parts of the arcology): "Cargo and water tanks are all toward the top levels."

 **Starforce** : "That's odd."

 **Alexei** (continuing): "Living quarters and control rooms are roughly in the middle... reactors and fuel bunkerage are below them and above the dome."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What about inside the dome?"

 **Alexei** : "Nothing."

 **Starforce** : "And the side towers all around?"

 **Alexei** : "Also nothing. At least on the publicly-available plans."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, then. Put me into the cargo holds and let's light this firecracker!" 

(she strides back onto the teleport pad, gingerly stepping over the mess Starforce made when he was 'ported in while Alexei moves to the teleporter's control console and rapidly sets it up)

 **Alexei** : "Coordinates set, you'll come out in one of the cargo bays. Roughly compartment 620SC"

(she looks at the vomit again with a disgusted look on her face)

 **Ladyhawk** : "And Nerd-boy? Be a dear and clean that up, would you?"

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

* * *

(Control Room, Serebryanyy Arcology, Larisagrad. One hour later)

(the quiet murmur of activity fills the arcology's master control room, along with a palpable aura of tension. A counter on one of the main video screens has just dropped below 2 hours as Kat el-Hassan strides in. She is older with a prominent scar along one jaw, and is wearing an upgraded suit of low-profile armor)

 **Kat** : "Status?"

 **Agent 1** : "All systems normal. Personnel assigned to _Argent Escape_ are all onboard. The final evacuation convoys will be departing Larisagrad within the hour."

 **Kat** : "Excellent."

 **Agent 2** (by a security console): "Director, if I may have a moment of your time?"

(curious, Kat goes over to the security console)

 **Agent 2** : "Security systems have been monitoring various anomalies throughout _Argent Escape_ over the past hour."

 **Kat** : "What type of anomalies?"

 **Agent 2** : "Two cases of personnel on routine patrol not reporting in... multiple instances of security cameras cutting out... also unusual requests of the onboard library computer system from at least three separate terminals so far."

 **Kat** : "What type of requests?"

 **Agent 2** : "Mostly floorplans, except for the one personnel request which hit a security restriction."

 **Kat** : "Is there any pattern to the anomalies?"

 **Agent 2** : "The computer regularly runs statistical analysis on time, location, and type of security incidents. The anomalies I've reported tripped its first-level reporting criteria five minutes ago."

 **Kat** : "Interesting."

 **Agent 2** : "Could the American superheroes have gotten out of the brig?"

 **Kat** : "If Starforce had, everyone in Larisagrad would know it. Trust me on this." (rubs the scar along her jaw absently) "If I had to guess, it's his wife."

 **Agent 2** : "Alert Security?"

 **Kat** : "No. That will only tip her off that we know she's out, and I saw how she went through some of ARGENT's best agents six years ago." (beat) "Let me know when she reaches compartment 501PV."

 **Agent 2** : "Are you sure, director?"

 **Kat** : "The only reason they would have been coming here was to rescue Dr. Lemick. I'm sure."

(turns to walk away from the console)

 **Kat** (continuing, evil smile): "I'll deal with Miss Dormyer *personally* when she gets there. And I'll enjoy every second of it this time."

* * *

(Quantum Displacement Laboratory, Larisagrad. 1 hour, 30 minutes later)

(Starforce and Alexei are working energetically on the computer equipment in the lab)

 **Alexei** : "Your backup of the system mirror is taking forever!"

 **Starforce** : "Because this battlesuit is using 1992 networking technology. Stop complaining."

 **Alexei** : "You haven't been upgrading it?"

 **Starforce** : "I'm supposed to be retired from doing this sort of thing, same as my wife." (beat, annoyed) "The rest of the world doesn't seem to have gotten the memo, though."

(a light flashes in Starforce's mask)

 **Starforce** : "Ah, finally. I'm done."

 **Alexei** : "And I can finally complete some of those searches I've been trying to run while you did that."

 **Starforce** : "Weren't you running them in parallel while I was hacking their backup?"

 **Alexei** : "I was." (beat) "You're not the only person stuck with early 1990's computer technology. You really... what is the English term?"

 **Starforce** : "I bogged your system down?"

 **Alexei** : "That's it."

(a window on Alexei's workstation begin to flash for attention)

 **Alexei** : "FINALLY!"

 **Starforce** (wheeling his chair over): "What do you have?"

 **Alexei** : "The search for either 'Tara' or 'Lemick' or 'Lady Blue' got hits."

 **Starforce** : "Lemme drive."

(Alexei brings that window to the front of the screen, and Starforce scans the list rapidly. In spite of his 'Speed Reading' talent, long pause)

 **Starforce** : "I keep getting hits for that 'ARGENT Escape' project nobody knows anything about."

 **Alexei** : "The teleporter I was asked to build and test was to be used for it."

 **Starforce** (still scanning): "Hm."

(another window icon starts flashing for attention)

 **Starforce** : "What's that one?"

 **Alexei** : "The weapons search."

 **Starforce** (relinquishing keyboard and mouse to Alexei): "You have the conn."

(Alexei looks confused for a moment, but figures out what Starforce meant anyway. He brings that window up, looks at the search results, then calls up what appears to be a CAD/CAM document)

 **Alexei** : "I can tell you exactly where the bombs are."

(the document finishes loading, and it appears to be the core of the Serebryanyy Arcology. A cylindrical structure directly above the apex of the dome is highlighted)

 **Alexei** : "They're in that magazine right there."

 **Starforce** (beat): "You know, if I didn't know any better I'd swear that's a gun barrel."

 **Alexei** (beat, squinting): "You know, you're right!"

 **Starforce** : "Why would it be aimed into the middle of that dome like that?"

 **Alexei** : "To shoot the bombs and reflect the blast?"

(Starforce looks like he is about to make a sarcastic comment, then freezes. Slowly, his mouth falls open wider in shock)

 **Starforce** : "Oh, my God! The arcology is an Orion spacecraft!!"

 **Alexei** : "What?!?"

 **Starforce** : "Concept studied in America back during the late 1950's, early 1960's. You take a lot of payload, set it on top of a bunch of shock absorbers attached to a pusher plate, set the stack on top of a nuclear bomb, and set the bomb off. Lather, rinse, repeat."

 **Alexei** : "Your ancestors were INSANE!"

 **Starforce** : "The concept actually made it to working non-nuclear testbeds. And was responsible for the single most awesome line ever written in science fiction..." /* "God was knocking. And he wanted in _bad_." _Footfall_ , by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle */

 **Alexei** : "Dr. Hawkins? Please focus!"

 **Starforce** (smiling): "Sorry. I can't believe someone is actually attempting this for real!"

 **Alexei** (slowly): "Given the size and mass of the arcology, would a half-megaton bomb be enough to get it off the ground?"

(Starforce looks like he about to say something, then stops with a confused expression on his face. Pause while he goes into lightning calculator mode)

 **Starforce** : "You've got a point. Half a megaton wouldn't be enough for liftoff."

 **Alexei** : "A mistake in their calculations?"

 **Starforce** : "Hope not. The arcology was designed this way deliberately." (beat) "If they're not using it for thrust, then *what* are they using it for?"

 **Alexei** : "That's an awful lot of plasma from the explosion to be wasting power and energy..."

 **Starforce** (making his INT roll): "That's IT!!"

 **Alexei** : "What?"

 **Starforce** : "Alexei, you're a genius! It's not a rocket, it's a pulse-power unit!!"

 **Alexei** : "Powering what?"

 **Starforce** : "Do you have a master design file for the arcology?"

 **Alexei** : "Uh, yeah! Give me a minute to bring it up."

 **Starforce** : "Please and thank you!"

(another, more detailed CAD/CAM file of the Arcology fills the workstation. Starforce takes over the keyboard and the mouse, and the arcology spins dizzily through three dimensions while he rapidly highlights various structural components)

 **Starforce** (muttering to himself): "Uh-huh... yes... that's clever... yeah... oh, YEAH..."

 **Alexei** : "What?"

(Starforce stops his manipulations of the file. The arcology is now on its side, and for the first time Alexei sees it not as a megastructure building but as a spacecraft)

 **Starforce** : "See the four towers that I've highlighted?"

 **Alexei** : "Yes..."

 **Starforce** : "Those are the LARGEST electrogravitic impellers ever built in the history of Mankind. Power for them is recovered from the plasma of the bomb's detonation and probably through a regenerative damping scheme built into the shock frame above the dome as well."

 **Alexei** (beat, shocked): "Are they safe?"

 **Starforce** : "If Tara supervised their construction, yes. If not... well, electrogravitics is very easy to get wrong. Nearly a dozen scientists worldwide died getting it wrong before Albert Zerstoiten finally got it right in 1943."

 **Alexei** : "You're wearing electrogravitics."

 **Starforce** : "Because between my late father being an ex-Nazi mad scientist and the body count incurred by basic research, it was regarded as crackpot science until 1982."

 **Alexei** : "So it's a spacecraft. Where is it going?"

 **Starforce** (beat): "Uhh... nowhere in the Solar System if they're looking for a habitable planet."

 **Alexei** (looking at the Tara Lemick search window): "Wait, are these... star charts?"

 **Starforce** (double clicking): "Let's see."

(the chart isn't a star chart. Alexei doesn't recognize it. Starforce eventually does, after making an INT roll at -3)

 **Starforce** (breathing): "Well sonofa... This, my boy, is a relativistic brachistochrone plot! Find one of the curves corresponding to your planned acceleration, read off the distance traveled in real life, and you get the amount of ship time you'll spend getting to where you're going without any of the nastiness involved in calculating hyperbolic trig functions!"

 **Alexei** : "Bozhe'!" (beat, examining the plot) "Why are they so interested in the 16 light-year distance?"

 **Starforce** : "Probably because where they're headed is 16 light years away. Duh."

(Alexei looks at Starforce crossly)

 **Starforce** : "The only sunlike star I know of that's that far away would probably be 70 Ophiuchi."

 **Alexei** : "How do you know that?"

 **Starforce** : "Star chart for a role-playing game I used to play 15 years ago. Try to keep up!" (beat, brow furrowed) "I don't see the reactor space in the arcology to get any decent acceleration out of their impellers once they're clear of Earth! Now where are they getting the power?"

 **Alexei** : "What about these other two towers that you didn't highlight?"

 **Starforce** : "What do they contain?"

 **Alexei** : "Laser preionizers and MHD taps." /* MHD = [Magnetohydrodynamics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetohydrodynamic_generator) */

 **Starforce** : "They're not Bussard ramjets, so what are they..." (beat) "HAH!"

 **Alexei** : "You know what they're doing?"

 **Starforce** : "Above a certain speed, which would be highly dependent on the average density of interstellar media, that oncoming media would appear to the spacecraft as an electric current!"

 **Alexei** : "Which those two towers would then tap to power the impellers!"

 **Starforce** : "Exactly! Once they get above critical speed, they won't NEED internal power to maintain acceleration. This is pure GENIUS!"

 **Alexei** : "A shame ARGENT had to be the ones to develop it."

 **Starforce** : "Tell me about it."

 **Alexei** : "So when are they going to lift off?"

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** : "How soon are we going to hit that three hour deadline you told me and Julie about when you rescued us?"

 **Alexei** : "About twenty minutes now..." (beat, shocked face) "DER'MO!"

 **Starforce** (slowly): "I think we need to be trying to find Dr. Lemick's current position and relay that to my wife!"

 **Alexei** : "Uh, yeah! Hang on."

(he takes the mouse and keyboard back from Starforce and begins typing frantically in the first search window)

* * *

(Serebryanyy Arcology, Larisagrad. One minute later)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Compartment 501PV, room 332. Are you sure?"

 **Starforce** (over radio): "Positive! Also, be advised you are not in an arcology but in a giant spacecraft which will lift off in 19 minutes! Plan accordingly."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, shocked): "Copy that. Shut up now, I have a supervillainess to rescue."

(she shuts her mask radio down and commandeers an elevator, putting her ARGENT agent helmet back on while she ushers a grav-cart holding her katanas and utility belt)

 **Ladyhawk** (to elevator): "Compartment 501PV."

(the elevator doors close and it starts moving)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[figures ARGENT would have _Star Trek_ turbolifts]]

(it takes over two minutes, but the elevator finally reaches the correct compartment and the doors open to an empty hallway. Ladyhawk's Danger Sense starts to pulse faintly)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[now *why* am I feeling that I need a plan B for my extraction?]] (beat) [[well, I needed to change into business casual anyway]]

(after another minute, she finds a lounge with a large window commanding a view of Larisagrad's Central Business District, lit up and with its eastern windows beginning to catch and reflect the growing dawn. She strips out of the ARGENT uniform she has been wearing over her normal armor during her infiltration, straps on her utility belt and katanas, then takes out some Thermite cord from her belt and spends another minute applying it around the edge of the window)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[the things I do for someone else's King and Country]]

(her job setting the Thermite charge is now done. She begins sneaking down the corridors of the target compartment, and locates room 332 in short order. She looks at the door controls, her electronic lockpick, then at the door controls again)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[I'm a ninja. WHY am I thinking about using the doorbell?]]

(quick work with electronic lockpick, then the door slides open with an electronic chime)

 **Lady Blue** (reading a book): "Do you MIND? I'd like some privacy before takeoff..."

(she stumbles to a halt as she registers who just let herself into her cabin)

 **Lady Blue** : "JULIE WARBUCKS?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I'm here to get you out. We don't have much time..."

 **Lady Blue** : "No shit. We're 15 minutes from liftoff right now!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I know, Nerd-boy told me this is actually a spacecraft and not an arcology. I'm hoping he'll explain later."

 **Lady Blue** : "How did you two find out about this?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "ARGENT hired a mercenary team to provide it 13 errant nukes for something called 'ARGENT Escape' and took one of the nukes as payment. That nuke was recovered in Dearborn, MI the afternoon of 9/11 before it could be used to attack Millenium City."

(Tara is too shocked even to swear)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Between THAT little surprise and your kidnapping, *that's* why Nerd-boy and I are involved right now!"

 **Lady Blue** : "Just... Damn!" (beat) "Well, it's probably a good thing Hoosier Boy isn't with you right now, what with his old college girlfriend in command of the ship and all that."

 **Ladyhawk** : "We already knew she escaped the Guardhouse last week..."

 **Lady Blue** : "After successfully managing the construction of this ship from prison for over three years!"

(it's Ladyhawk's turn to be shocked now)

 **Ladyhawk** : "WHAT?!?"

 **Lady Blue** : "I've been giving her status updates via vidphone weekly since I got here!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "BUT SHE WAS IN PRISON!"

 **Lady Blue** : "UNTIL may want to check just how secure their Supermax facility actually is if we ever get out of here..."

(the door opens unexpectedly, interrupting Tara and Ladyhawk's conversation. Kat el-Hassan, surrounded by an electrogravitic forcefield similar to either Lady Blue's or Starforce's, hovers malevolently as she drifts through)

 **Kat** (almost purring): "Miss Dormyer! Care for a rematch?"

* * *

(Serebryanyy Arcology, Larisagrad. One second later)

(segment 2, effective DEX 35. Ladyhawk throws the homing bracelet to Tara who catches it before she has time to think)

 **Ladyhawk** : "FLY YOU FOOL!"

(effective DEX 33. Kat opens up with an 18d6 Forcebeam, narrowly missing Ladyhawk)

 **Ladyhawk** (alarmed): "Okay, that's different!"

 **Kat** : "Dr. Lemick was most helpful in upgrading my suit."

(DEX 15. Tara slaps the button on the the homing bracelet)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

 **Ladyhawk** : "I win."

 **Kat** : "Who said I wanted to keep her?"

(segment 3, effective DEX 35. Katanas out, Ladyhawk half-moves to Kat, swings, and hits with both for 1 STUN and 11 STUN after all defenses)

 **Kat** (grimacing): "Your death will serve my purposes QUITE nicely, Miss Dormyer!"

(effective DEX 33. Kat somehow [!] barely misses Ladyhawk at point-blank range with another forcebeam) /* I was honestly expecting Ladyhawk to take damage here until I rolled to hit */

(segment 5, effective DEX 35. Activating her "Artful Dodging" power, Ladyhawk parkours away from the room and down the hall)

 **Kat** (yelling while continuing to miss with forcebeams): "You won't get away that easy, Dormyer!!"

(grunting in frustration, Kat takes off in pursuit of Ladyhawk)

* * *

(Quantum Displacement Laboratory, Larisagrad. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(Starforce and Alexei are fanboying out over the design of the Serebryanyy Arcology's power and drive system. The teleporter console activates)

 **Starforce** : "How many inbound?"

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!)

(Tara appears on the platform. Shocked pause)

 **Starforce** (growing panic, to Tara): "Julie. WHERE IS JULIE?!?"

 **Lady Blue** : "I left her in my cabin fighting Kat el-Hassan. Kat's adapted my battlesuit to hers!"

 **Starforce** (angry): "Sonofa..." (beat, suit starts spinning up to power) "Your cabin was in compartment 501PV, correct?"

 **Lady Blue** : "Yes... Wait, WHERE are you going?"

 **Starforce** : "Julie's gonna try to exit through a window and she needs me to be there to catch her when she jumps!"

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** (intensely): "Both of you, as soon as I'm clear of the building beam out of the city. Preferably not downwind of it!"

 **Alexei** : "Wind is currently out of the north..."

 **Starforce** : "Don't go too far north, then, or you'll have bigger problems on your hands."

 **Lady Blue** (to Starforce): "Kyshtym Disaster?"

 **Starforce** (activating forcefield and beginning to hover): "Got it in one. I'll home in on both of you once I retrieve Julie!"

 **Lady Blue** (alarmed): "HOOSIER BOY?!? THERE'S A..."

(Starforce takes off, and is at full combat speed before he goes through the ceiling. Debris fountains down through the exit wound he just made through the building)

 **Lady Blue** (small voice): "...door."

(Awkward pause, held gaze while debris continues to fountain through the hole)

 **Lady Blue** (sighing): "That's Bob Hawkins for you. Perfectly serviceable door and he has to go through the ceiling instead."

* * *

(Serebryanyy Arcology, Larisagrad. 30 seconds later)

(Two agents run from around the corner of an intersection, blocking Ladyhawk's escape)

 **Agent** : "There she is! Blast her..."

(silly agents. Ladyhawk slides under the blaster salvo, then vaults into the air with a somersault and smashes their helmets together before dropping a bagful of marbles behind her to keep them on the ground. A long-range shot from Kat wings her for 9 STUN after defenses)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Damn." (looks down the intersection to the right, internal monologue) [[the window I rigged was this way. Hope Nerd-boy's homing on the screamer I popped]]

(Ladyhawk scatters smoke pellets between her and Kat)

 **Kat** : "YOU CAN RUN, DORMYER, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!"

(switching her mask to infrared, she sees the IR signature of footprints heading off to the right)

 **Kat** (internal monologue): [[lounge with large window at the end of that corridor. That's where I'd go if I had to leave in a hurry]]

(Kat flies to the right at the intersection and sure enough, sees a running figure heading into the lounge)

 **Kat** (internal monologue): [[I have you now]]

(as Kat accelerates into the lounge, Ladyhawk jumps for the window looking out high over Larisagrad and thumbs a switch in her left hand. Thermite cord all along the edge of the window detonates, shattering the window just before she hits it. She tucks into a tumble barely in time to miss a forcebeam from Kat, then untucks into a dive for the ground half a kilometer below

 **Kat** (flying in pursuit): "You're INSANE!"

(Ladyhawk spins in midair to look at Kat diving in pursuit)

 **Kat** (smiling and screaming as she closes on Ladyhawk): "YOU CAN'T FLY, DORMYER! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE ON IMPACT AND I'M GOING TO LAUGH ALL..."

(Ladyhawk has been wordlessly pointing at Kat during that rant. Kat stops speaking because she suddenly realizes that Ladyhawk is pointing to something behind *her*. She turns around just in time to see the 37d6 TK Offensive Strike [30 + 2 for pushing + 5 for residual velocity] that does 45 STUN to her after defenses, knocking her out)

(Forcefield shutting off due to cybernetic feedback, it's now Kat's turn to plummet helplessly toward the ground below as the sonic boom from Starforce's approach dive sweeps over the arcology. Starforce snags Ladyhawk with a TK grab as he slows to a stop next to her, then he finally grabs her with an arm and with a flicker of his forcefield has Ladyhawk safely in his grasp)

 **Starforce** : "Next time you wanna try base-jumping, Ninjette, at least TRY to pack a glider-cape!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I would have if I realized this was going to be my extraction plan!" (beat, looking at Kat tumbling toward the ground below) "You must have knocked her out. You better do something about it, Nerd-boy."

 **Starforce** (growling, hitting Kat's body with a TK grab): "I would prefer not to."

* * *

(Base of the Serebryanyy Arcology, Larisagrad. Ten seconds later)

(By the time Starforce and Ladyhawk have drifted to the ground, Kat has recovered consciousness and has been squirming against the full power of Starforce's TK)

 **Kat** : "LET ME GO, BASTARDS!"

 **Starforce** (to Kat): "Believe me, I wanted to 300 meters ago while you were still unconscious."

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!)

(Shturm teleports next to the tableau, deploying multiple weapons pauldrons to aim at Starforce)

 **Shturm** : "Drop Director el-Hassan now and I will make your death painless."

 **Starforce** (bored, to Shturm): "Oh, please. I took a full-powered Destroyer-beam from my father at Detroit and wasn't even hurt. What makes YOU think you're gonna get through my forcefield?"

 **Ladyhawk** (to Shturm): "The only thing keeping YOU alive right now is that my husband is using his telekinesis on Director el-Hassan and *not* you."

(tense pause)

 **Kat** : "Shturm? Stand down."

 **Shturm** : "But director, you are in danger..."

 **Kat** : "I SAID, stand down!"

 **Starforce** (to Shturm): "As long as your side doesn't make any sudden movements of which neither my wife nor I would approve, Director el-Hassan will remain uninjured." (beat) "Which is far, FAR more than she deserves."

 **Ladyhawk** (muttered, to Starforce): "Should have quit while you were ahead, Nerd-boy..."

 **Kat** (beat, to Starforce and Ladyhawk): "WHY were you here anyway? To rescue Dr. Lemick?"

 **Starforce** : "Among other things."

 **Ladyhawk** : "There's also the slight matter of 12 stolen nuclear weapons from Central Asia."

 **Starforce** : "All of which are tied to the arcology we are all standing next to which is due to lift off in about five minutes, now."

 **Kat** (alarmed): "What do you know of ARGENT Escape?!?"

 **Starforce** : "That under the noses of virtually everyone on Earth, you've managed to build a relativistic starship designed to take as much of ARGENT as possible to the 70 Ophiuchi star system in the hopes they can find a new home there."

(shocked pause, then Kat smiles)

 **Kat** (sultry, to Ladyhawk): "You see, Miss Dormyer, I loved him for more than just his body."

(Ladyhawk refuses to take the bait and stares her down implacably)

 **Kat** : "Why would either one of you want to stop me from leaving, anyway?"

 **Starforce** : "Wait. You're leaving, too?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Why?"

 **Kat** : "Because I don't want to live on this planet anymore." /* 9 years too soon to use the appropriate _Futurama_ joke. Damn */

 **Starforce** : "Seriously?"

 **Kat** : "How long do you think it's going to be before Sergei Varinnikov manufactures evidence that will lead to Vladimir Putin authorizing a nuclear strike on Larisagrad?" (beat, looking at Starforce and Ladyhawk) "Or develops or steals the capability to take us out himself WITHOUT coopting anyone else's help?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "You're *that* concerned about Sergei?"

 **Kat** : "He *is* Robert's brother. Right?"

 **Starforce** (beat): "How did you know?"

 **Kat** : "Remove the effect of Varanyi medical nanotech slowing your aging, and you look enough like each other to be positively scary. And then I found out that back in November of 1992 then-Colonel Varinnikov made a... shall we say... discreet request of the old Advanced Genetics Lab to compare his genetic sequence with Albert Zerstoiten's, which came back with the result that Doctor Destroyer was his father as well as yours!" /* "The Legacy of Doctor Destroyer" */

(shocked pause)

 **Kat** : "That man dared to destroy an entire continent last year in order to restore the Aral Sea! What do you think he is willing to dare in order to neutralize -- or ACQUIRE -- Larisagrad?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "You may have misread him."

 **Kat** : "That's not an assumption I or a majority of ARGENT's Directors are willing to make. Especially with him only 200 miles away."

(beat. Ladyhawk looks at Starforce)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Kat): "Give us your word that we will not be harmed, my husband will release you and we will leave. There's been enough blood shed today for no good purpose."

 **Kat** (beat): "You have my word."

(Ladyhawk looks at Starforce)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Nerd-boy?"

(beat, then Starforce releases his TK grab. Before anyone else can react, he and Ladyhawk are accelerating rapidly into the air, trailing a sharp sonic boom as they sail off into the northern sky)

 **Kat** (murmured): "Not very trusting, were they?"

 **Shturm** : "If you'll allow me, Director? We're close to lift-off."

 **Kat** : "By all means."

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!)

* * *

(10 kilometers northeast of Larisagrad. One minute later)

(a shooting star arcs out of the southern sky to where Alexei and Tara are waiting. As the sonic boom sweeps over the eastern foothills of the Ural Mountains, the shooting star resolves itself into Starforce and Ladyhawk making a soft landing in the forest clearing)

 **Lady Blue** : "The ridgeline to our immediate southwest should keep us safe from the flash and initial gamma flux of the takeoff bomb."

 **Starforce** : "Good thinking."

 **Alexei** : "When does it initiate?"

(the ridgeline behind them lights with supernal brilliance. Without any prompting, all fall to the ground for extra protection)

 **Starforce** : "Call it a hunch, but probably right about now."

 **Ladyhawk** (annoyed): "Nerd-boy..."

 **Lady Blue** : "Anyone without flash defense, DO NOT LOOK INTO THE SKY until I say so."

 **Starforce** : "They intend to use more than one bomb to reach escape velocity?"

 **Lady Blue** : "At least three that I saw on the initial boost profile."

(The afterimages fade as the blast wave sweeps over the ridgeline they are using as cover. Starforce looks into the southern sky and sees a dark object remarkably resembling the Serebryanyy Arcology accelerating into the sky under a growing fireball)

 **Starforce** (beat): "You know, I don't think this is what the _Botany Bay_ looked like when she launched."

(awkward pause. Far above them, another bomb initiates behind the climbing arcology)

 **Lady Blue** (to Ladyhawk, indicating Starforce): "You don't mind if I..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Go ahead. You got the reference before I did."

 **Lady Blue** : "Thank you."

(Lady Blue slaps Starforce)

 **Starforce** : "HEY!"

 **Lady Blue** (to Starforce): "I LIKED that episode!" (beat) "And the movie, too!"

 **Starforce** (to Lady Blue, motioning to a third bomb has just initiated where the spacecraft was last seen): "Are you upset at Kat Noonien Singh up there for profaning the memory of our first date or at me for thinking of the joke first?"

 **Lady Blue** (slapping Starforce again): "Shut UP, Hoosier Boy!"

 **Ladyhawk** (facepalming): "First date?"

 **Lady Blue** : " _The Wrath of Khan_ , original theatrical release, early June of '82." (beat) "Relax, Warbucks, we met at the theater and he only hugged me at the end."

 **Ladyhawk** (muttered): "Still too much information." (beat, to Alexei) "So what's our extraction plan?"

 **Alexei** : "Molnya has a VTOL prepped and ready to go back at Kostanay. Frequency is 320 MHz, call sign Podbirat'"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Got it."

 **Starforce** : "You might want to wait another couple of minutes before attempting to call our ride, Ninjette. There'll still be residual after-effects from the bombs that just got used."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You're kidding, right?"

 **Lady Blue** : "I wish he was."

(awkward pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** (cheerfully demented): "So, who wants Smores?"

(Tara hauls off and slaps Starforce)

* * *

(Presidential Palace, Tashkent, Republic of Central Asia. Six hours later)

(Starforce, Ladyhawk, and Lady Blue are escorted into the Presidential Office. Sergei 'Warlord' Varinnikov in suit and tie regards them all from behind his desk as they walk up to it)

 **Lady Blue** (murmured to Starforce): "Damn, Hoosier Boy! President Varinnikov looks like an older you!"

 **Starforce** (murmured and annoyed): "Never heard that one before..."

 **Lady Blue** (murmured): "So what's the deal with him? Long-lost brother? Transporter accident?"

 **Ladyhawk** (murmured): "We'll explain on the way home. Now hush, you're worse than Nerd-boy."

 **Starforce** (murmured): "I heard that."

(by now, they are all near the desk)

 **Warlord** (indicating the couches in front of the desk): "Dr. Hawkins, Mrs. Hawkins, Dr. Lemick? Please, have a seat."

(beat, then they sit down)

 **Warlord** (gesturing toward tea service on one corner of his desk): "Would any of you like tea?"

 **Starforce** : "I'm a coffee and/or Doctor Pepper man myself. No thanks."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Tempting, but I'll pass too."

 **Lady Blue** : "Me three."

 **Warlord** : "Your loss."

(he pours himself a cup before regarding his guests over it)

 **Warlord** : "Your mission was to save your errant Dr. Lemick, find out what Kat el-Hassan was up to in Larisagrad, and to neutralize the weapons which my former nation so carelessly left behind to be stolen." (beat) "I only see one of those results here."

 **Lady Blue** : "Because you're too lazy to read your damn email! Hoosier Boy sent the mission report before we left Kostanay to come here..."

 **Starforce** : "Tara..."

 **Lady Blue** : "And what about the nuke that was supposed to go to Larisagrad but ended up in DEARBORN MICHIGAN of all places! THE DAY OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK!!"

(tense pause, held gaze. Between what Tara said just now and what Kat said before leaving Earth, Ladyhawk succeeds with a Deduction roll)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Sergei): "You let that bomb go deliberately, didn't you?"

 **Warlord** (beat): "If I did, what would I possibly gain from it?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Well, let's see here... After Nerd-boy saved your nation and most of the continent from your errant terraformation project last summer..."

(Tara looks at Starforce, incredulous)

 **Starforce** (murmured, to Tara): "Long story. I'll explain later."

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing): "...your resources have been consumed by dealing with the collateral damage caused by the creation of the Tethys Sea. You had a potential ARGENT problem on your northwestern frontier that wouldn't cooperate and go away until you could deal with it yourself." (beat) "Russia has its own problems, so there's only one other nation you could go to in order to deal with that problem. So now your problem becomes 'how do I get the United States' attention to deal with Larisagrad for me?'"

 **Starforce** (aghast): "Ninjette?"

(Ladyhawk holds a hand up to stop Starforce. Tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "You haven't denied anything I've just stated, Sergei. Care to fill in the details?"

 **Warlord** (beat): "What Mrs. Hawkins has just alleged is true but incomplete."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, then. Out with it."

 **Warlord** : "We discovered the nuclear weapons last summer when we reactivated Kostanay to deal with the aftermath of Project Tethys. My intelligence chief came up with the idea of using the weapons to bait a honey trap and deal with various separatist and terrorist groups which have been active among my Muslim populations."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Where does ARGENT come into this?"

 **Warlord** : "Some of our deep-cover assets began reporting that ARGENT was extremely interested in acquiring those weapons. This concerned us enough to covertly set up a mercenary team to steal the weapons for ARGENT, take one of them as payment, and ship it to America." (beat, takes a sip of tea) "Your nation's experts could either analyze the weapon or its fissile debris, trace it back to its origins, and then follow the bread crumbs back to Larisagrad."

 **Starforce** (dangerously): "So you were almost responsible for the destruction of Millenium City on 9/11?"

 **Warlord** : "Your authorities were up to the task of stopping that cell, were they not?"

 **Ladyhawk** (hotly): "What if they WEREN'T?!?"

 **Warlord** (shrugging): "Your President Bush would have called President Putin once the origin of the weapon was placed, and Putin would have authorized his own nuclear strike against Larisagrad."

 **Lady Blue** (shocked): "You... MONSTER!"

 **Warlord** : "I was merely guaranteeing that all possible scenarios would result in my nation achieving what it wanted."

 **Ladyhawk** (muttered): "Regardless of collateral damage."

 **Starforce** (ominously mild): "That almost sounds like something our father would have done, Sergei."

(Tara's eyes bug out as she works through the first consequences of Starforce's statement. Sergei, for his part, takes another sip of tea from the cup on his desk while everyone recovers from the revelations of the past few moments)

 **Warlord** : "Back to the mission now. What was Kat el-Hassan doing in Larisagrad and what happened to the remaining weapons?"

 **Lady Blue** : "The Serebryanyy Arcology being built in Larisagrad was actually a relativistic starship designed to move ARGENT to the 70 Ophiuchi star system."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Director el-Hassan managed the entire project while incarcerated at UNTIL's Guardhouse. Your representative with the Tribunal may wish to inquire how this was possible, by the way."

 **Warlord** : "You think?"

 **Starforce** : "Of the twelve weapons found at the Arcology, three of them were used to energize the electrogravitic impellers which lifted it into space this morning."

 **Warlord** : "And the nine remaining weapons?"

 **Lady Blue** : "Those are on a trajectory to 70 Ophiuchi as we speak, same as her. I seriously doubt they'll be a threat to anyone on Earth in our lifetimes."

 **Starforce** : "So technically, Mr. President, the stolen weapons have been neutralized." (beat) "As per your original request, I believe?"

(Sergei rolls his eyes and shakes his head in disbelief)

 **Ladyhawk** (deadpan, to Sergei): "You now know what I have to put up with."

 **Warlord** : "I would have thought age would calm him down..."

 **Starforce** : "You do realize I can hear everything you're saying, guys?"

(Sergei's eyes crinkle as if he is suppressing a laugh)

 **Warlord** : "70 Ophiuchi? What's so special about that star?"

 **Starforce** : "It's a binary star system 16 light-years from Earth, theoretically capabale of supporting Earth-like worlds."

 **Warlord** : "Are you sure sure that's where they're heading?"

 **Lady Blue** : "I needed to know what I was designing the impellers to do, so I was allowed access to her astrocartographers."

 **Starforce** : "I saw the same astrocartography plots in the arcology's computer systems trying to find Tar... Dr. Lemick."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Director el-Hassan also confirmed it upon interrogation post-battle."

 **Warlord** : "What if there are no habitable planets once they get there?"

 **Starforce** : "If they have mining equipment and there's a halfway-decent planetismal belt around one of the target stars, they don't really *need* a habitable planet."

 **Warlord** (annoyed): "Assume that they do."

 **Starforce** : "Well..." (beat) "If you're looking for something roughly the same spectral class, 36 Ophiuchi is more or less along their current flight path and only 3 more light-years away. Not that much energy would be required for the appropriate course change."

(beat)

 **Warlord** : "Well, however unconventionally it might have occurred, you have removed a potentially very dangerous headache from my northwestern frontiers. For that, Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins, you have both my personal gratitude and that of my nation as well."

 **Starforce** (muttered): "In spite of the fact your plan almost cost us Millenium City as well."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Sergei while hitting Starforce): "You're welcome."

 **Lady Blue** (annoyed): "Yeah, if we're through with all the high-society protocol and bullshit, I'd like to go HOME now?"

 **Warlord** (annoyed, to Lady Blue): "Patience, Dr. Lemick." (to all of them) "There will be a helicopter in five minutes to take you to the airport. The Tupolev is on preflight, and will take off for Dallas as soon as all three of you are on board."

 **Starforce** (turning for the door): "Well then, let's get going..."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce, interrupting): "Give me a minute. I'll be right out."

(Starforce looks at Lady Blue, confused)

 **Lady Blue** (shrugging her shoulders): "She's your wife, Hoosier Boy. I don't understand her any better than you do."

(shaking their heads, they are escorted out of the President's office)

 **Warlord** : "You wanted to see me in private about something, Mrs. Hawkins?"

(Ladyhawk fishes around in her utility belt for a minute before extracting a small holographic memory cube)

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly, tossing the cube on the table): "I believe this was yours."

 **Warlord** (beat, looking at the cube): "And I am looking at... what, precisely?"

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly): "The contract your intelligence chief took out with the supervillain Utility at the beginning of the year to attack MY house and steal Doctor Destroyer's technical database!" /* "What's Yours is Negotiable" */

 **Warlord** : "Mrs. Hawkins, are you *accusing* me of hiring a supervillain to attack you?"

 **Ladyhawk** (putting her hands on the President's desk and leaning across to him): "It's not an accusation when I can PROVE IT IN A COURT OF LAW, *President* Varinnikov."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing, leaning away): "Besides, you lie worse than your brother does. I could see it in your tells when I dropped the cube on your desk."

 **Warlord** : "Hm." (beat, plays with the cube) "You do realize that going public with this information could be... *very* damaging to your nation's war against Al Quaeda and the Taliban, do you not?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "You would hold my nation's basing rights in your nation hostage to cover up your criminal actions?"

 **Warlord** : "There is no 'would' about it, Mrs. Hawkins. I just did."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, seething): "Why?!?"

 **Warlord** (coldly): "Because I am a patriot. And I will do *whatever* it takes to make my nation great and respected."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Warlord** (continuing): "Good day, Mrs. Hawkins."

(still seething, Ladyhawk leaves the office)

* * *

**EPILOGUE** : 70 Ophiuchi A-II, low orbit. Sometime in 2021

(Kat el-Hassan is visibly older as she sits in her quarters on the _Argent Escape_. The clouds of an earth-like planet swirl beyond the porthole behind her. The door chime sounds)

 **Kat** : "Enter."

(an ARGENT agent enters with a holocube)

 **Agent** (saluting): "Director."

 **Kat** (motioning toward her desk): "Be seated."

(the agent nods and does as ordered, setting the holocube on her desk as she sits)

 **Kat** (picking the holocube up): "These are the reports on the ruins compiled by the landing party?"

 **Agent** : "Yes, director."

 **Kat** : "Summarize."

 **Agent** : "The ruins are human, no more than three years old at most. They housed a remnant population of approximately 35 human females, early 20's at their oldest, in poor health and malnourished."

 **Kat** : "Crashed spacecraft?"

 **Agent** : "No, director. The damage we recorded happened after the community was built."

 **Kat** : "Caused by..."

 **Agent** : "Feral humans, same age, little better than aboriginal hunter-gatherers." (beat) "Very... incompetent hunter-gatherers."

 **Kat** : "You fought them?"

 **Agent** : "We gave them a bloody nose the first day planet-side. They've kept their distance watching our activities around the ruins."

 **Kat** : "Any idea why they're here?"

 **Agent** : "What records we found in the ruins are confused at best. There was either a civil war in the United States sometime in 2017 or a war between the United States and VIPER at that time. Possibly both."

 **Kat** : "Those timestamps imply that at least one nation back on Earth now has faster-than-light travel. Assign another interrogator and a scientist to find out which one."

 **Agent** : "Yes, director."

(the agent makes some notes on a tablet he also had with him. Kat waits for him to get done before continuing)

 **Kat** : "Continuing on with the survivors' interrogation. They were on the losing side of this war, I gather?"

 **Agent** : "The more coherent among them talk of supporting VIPER against the President while at college."

 **Kat** : "You have recordings of their interviews?"

 **Agent** : "Yes, Director."

(Kat plugs the holocube into her terminal)

 **Kat** : "Which file am I looking for?"

 **Agent** : "The interview with Mackenzie Doyle. She was the most lucid of the interviewees."

 **Kat** (tap tap tap): "Thank you."

(a window opens on the screen. A dirty-faced girl with unkempt hair and dressed in rags is looking at the camera)

 **Mackenzie** (on screen): "The leaders and the more dangerous ones had either committed suicide or been killed when the President finally turned her attention to us."

 **Agent** (off camera): "Your punishment was exile?"

 **Mackenzie** (on screen): "She offered us a choice. Exile to a planet of her choosing, or forgiveness and re-integration into American society without the right to vote or to free speech or to hold office..."

(Kat pauses playback)

 **Kat** : "The President when this happened was *female*?"

 **Agent** : "Yes, Director."

 **Kat** : "Hm." (beat) "Anyone I might know?"

 **Agent** (nervous): "Yes, Director."

 **Kat** (annoyed): "Who?"

 **Agent** : "Perhaps it would be best if you saw the video fragment of the 2017 Inaugaral we also recovered."

(annoyed, Kat shakes her head. She locates the clip and begins to play it. She gasps in shock, and one hand absently touches the old scar along her jaw)

 **Kat** (softly and in fear): "No..."

* * *

(fin)


End file.
